The Three Monsters

Age 1991

"Yang no!" Anga yelled out horrified.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." The younger brother said slowly.

Yang couldn't look his brother in the eyes as he allowed his body to morph and change... He dropped to his knees as it happened. His eyes became black, and iris became orange... He began to throw up all the blood in his body as it morphed.

Slowly, rocks began to form out of his body, coating it in a thick layer of protection. He grew in size growing more muscular and at least three feet taller, now almost reaching ten feet! The rock armor around him hardened and gained a black coating to it, making it look similar to obsidian. Several large spikes made out of the material grew out of his back. A row of them appeared on his knuckles making it appear as if he had spiked brass knuckles.

When it was all said and done, Yang had become a weird, and scary looking, rock monster.

"Yang..." Anga said sadly. "You fool..."

"Seth was right..." Yang's voice came out almost like a growl as he stood up to his full height casting the group of horrified people in his shadow. "My mind has changed... I feel... I feel darker... Yet, I still know who I am, and what I once was... Despite that, I can still feel a grip on my mind... Something urging me to kill you all... I can't tell if I made a horrible mistake, but this feels right. Like it was meant to be... Please, Anga... Infect yourself with the crystal. Join me, brother. Please? We can save mom!"

Anga stared at Yang with a look of disappointment. "My brother is dead..."

"So be it... You've made your choice..." Yang said quietly as his now orange eyes peered at the enemy. "I'll do my best to make sure none of you suffer. I'll kill you all quickly."

"I'm glad you could see things my way..." Seth said reaching out a slim and boney hand. He placed it on Yang's shoulder patting him on the back. "Now... Let us remake this world. Starting by defeating the enemies... The lifeforms of chaos! The beings known as humans?" Seth bellowed out.

"This looks like trouble..." Kitsune hissed out.

"You think..." Ken said giving the teen a deadpan stare.

Hero watched the two monsters closely. He let a slight hiss escape his lips as he placed a hand on his side. "I... I'm not at a 100%" He muttered out. "Maudite. You should stay near Jackson-"

"I'm not leaving your side..." The twelve-year-old girl announced out being sturbon.

Hero went to say something but stopped when he saw the determined look in her eyes. 'Huh... She looks like me, when I was a kid...' He thought to himself as he shook his head. "We're so screwed."

'If you are ever in danger and for whatever reason, you don't think Jackson will be able to come save you guys pull out that box and hit the button...'

Hero reached into his pocket feeling the small metallic box Dawson had given him. "Not yet... I don't know what it is... I'll use it when I have an opening!" He decided as he nodded his head slightly. "Zero, and Mr. Storm might be able to handle them on their own, so I might not even need it..."

Jackson let out a heavy sigh as he pointed his sword at the two new monsters. "Its a shame. I was starting to get to like your group... But I see now that you've become a threat to the human race. In that case, I'll do my duty as an Enforcer, and stop you here and now!" He announced out.

Seth let out a small chuckle as his grotesque face managed a smile. "Then... Let us begin-"

Hero let out a gasp as Seth appeared in front of him swinging his clawed hand down. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the teen's eyes got wider. 'I-Its so quick! I- I won't have time to move-'

Zero brought his blade down blocking the strike as his foot shot out and kicked Hero in the chest launching the kid, as well as Maudite away. "Enforcer! You get the other one!" Zero bellowed out.

"On it!" Jackson screamed flashing forward as he swung his sword at Yang. Yang raised an arm blocking the strike, but moments later a very pissed off Anga jumped in slamming his fist straight into Yang's face and throwing the monster back.

"Yang. As your older brother, it falls on me to be the one to put you out of your misery!" Anga shouted out as tears streamed down his face. He charged forward slamming his fist up and knocking the monster into the air.

"Wow. He might be able to actually handle that on his own!" Jackson said taken aback. He glanced over at Zero who was clashing with Seth. "Who... Who do I help?"

Zero gritted his teeth as he swung his blade down, only for Seth to suddenly vanish. "What?" Zero felt a fist slam into his gut breaking some of his ribs as he flew back.

"This is amazing!" Seth announced holding his arms out. "My Attribute is so much stronger. I can now jump in and out of the mirror world in quick succession! I'm invincible!"

Zero sliced his sword up firing out a wave of white energy but Seth simply slapped the attack away one-handed.

"He... He's so strong..." Kitsune muttered out in shock. "Even stronger than the one we were having trouble with earlier!"

"His durability and power don't matter..." Hero said simply.

"What?"

"No Hero's right!" Irene said with a realization. "If he turned into a monster then he got the crystal weakness! It doesn't matter how strong he is! If we just break that gem, he'll die instantly!" She said proudly.

"What?" Hero said taken aback. "Huh? I didn't think of that!" He said sheepishly.

"What? Then what were you going on about?"

"Ahh.. Not important." Hero turned away as he watched the battle. "The question is... Which one do we target first?"

Zero sliced his blade up once again only for Seth to easily block it. "Ha!" Seth laughed out. "Pathetic!" He slammed his fist straight into Zero's gut hard enough to leave a hole in the man's gut...

Zero coughed up blood as he jumped back. He began breathing heavily as he glared at the monster. "I never liked you... I never liked any of you. I refuse to believe that I'm weak. I hold the title of Zero! I'm the strongest Samurai around! I am the best..."

"At one time, you might have been a real threat. But now. Well, now you're nothing." Seth said smugly. "Even the Enforcers are more of a challenge then you are!"

"That's a lie!" Zero screamed out in utter rage. "I! I am a Samurai! A Samurai who holds the rank of Zero! I fought on the great battlefield against the Enforcers! I am! I am the strongest there is!" An image of a small girl came to his mind as he let out a yell of rage. "I'll kill you all!"

Zero rushed forward slashing his sword up.

Seth reached up slapping the sword away and sending it out of Zero's hand. "Too weak!"

'Blam!'

Seth's fist slammed into Zero's head hard enough to actually crack the sound barrier as the man's head snapped back. If he was a normal human, he would have died instantly. Hell even if he was a superhuman he still would have most likely died instantly.

Zero's body flew back through the air seemingly in slow motion as his eyes glazed over.

And then he saw it. His life began to flash before his eyes.

He saw himself first being born.

He saw himself training for the first time to wild a sword, at the age of four.

He saw himself kill his first-ever opponent, at the age of seven.

He saw himself fight in his first-ever war, at the age of nine.

He saw himself hold the body of his older brother close to him, as his older brother passed away, at the age of ten.

He saw himself hold the body of his younger brother, as he too passed away, at the age of twelve.

He saw his friends die all over again...

And again.

And again.

And he saw himself receive the rank of Zero, the highest rank his clan allowed...

He saw the village burn to the ground...

And... And he saw the body of his baby... His daughter... The daughter he lost, in the fire... The fire the Enforcers had caused...

He saw himself lead his tropes into battle...

And he saw himself lose that war. Nearly killed by the Enforcer known as Ward.

And he saw himself saved by Master Storm... Leader of the Enforcers.

And he saw his life. All of it. His miserable life... The life that he held onto. The life he fought for. He saw the life of Zero. The man who was supposed to be the strongest Warrior...

His clan broke up, now nonexistent. The Samurai had truly lost. They weren't a part of the Nation of white. They were now apart of the Nation of red.

He saw himself give in, and become a mere sword for hire...

'You're weak!'

'Damn Samurai!'

'Even the Enforcer's are more of a challenge than you are!'

'Zero...'

'Yukon... You are the Nation Of Whites burning Hope. Our ancestors came to this land to defeats the Red Emperor... But they were stopped by the lesser of the Enforcers. Our ancestors were left stuck here, and so for over a thousand years, our order has existed in enemy territory. Our grudge now rest with the Enforcer. More namely the leader of the Enforcers. Storm... We will exterminate him, and his family... His bloodline must not exist. A Storm is the worst thing in this world. Do you understand Yukon...'

And he saw himself be saved. Saved again and again by those damn Enforcers.

'Typical Enforcer. You never know when to give up.'

Again and again he was saved. Saved by Master Storm. Saved by that jackass Jackson. Over and over.

"Ken... You remind me so much of..." Zero's eyes glazed up at the roof of the cave as he continued to fall back in slow motion, feeling his body begin to give out. 'I guess I'm just that weak-'

'It is up to you know. For over a hundred years we breed, in order to make the ultimate warrior. Yukon. We gift you with the ultimate rank. We gift you the rank of Zero... From this day on you are the warrior known as Zero. A warrior stronger than any other.'

"Die!" Seth bellowed out slicing his hand down. "Gah! What?" Seth looked down finding Jackson Storm next to him now. Jackson smirked slightly as he lifted his blade up easily slicing Seth in half in a single motion.

Hero shot forward wrapping his arms around Zero as he sucked in air, inflating his body, and becoming a fleashy ball, and used himself to cushion the Samurai. Small boney pipes came out of his back as they propelled him forward dragging himself and Zero away from the fight.

"Saved- by an Enforcer..." Zero coughed out. "And that man... Jackson Storm... His blade actually managed to slice through the monster while mine failed... Why am I so weak..."

"Yo! Mr. Samurai dude! Are you alright?" Hero asked as his body deflated and the bones inside of him were pulled back in.

Zero let out a slight growl as he jumped off of Hero. He wobbled slightly falling to his knees as he spat up more blood.

"Take it easy!" Irene said running up. "It's very likely your insides are badly injured... Also, you are probably suffering from a major concussion after a punch like that... Just sit down and let Jackson handle it. He's the strongest one here. He can handle it."

Zero's eye darted over to her for a brief second. "Let the Enforcer handle it... Are you saying I'm too weak?"

"What! No!" Irene said. She glanced over to Hero shooting him a look. He just shrugged.

"Don't ask me. He's being weird." Hero said shrugging.

Zero crawled forward reaching out, and reclaiming his sword as he stood back up. He stabbed the blade into the ground using it to hold himself up. He watched the battle between Jackson and Seth...

Both fighters seemed evenly matched as they went back and forth. Jackson had a massive white aura around him that crackled with power and lightning was quite literally pouring off of him.

"At this rate I might have to actually get serious!" Jackson yelled giving a smirk. "You'll force me to transform beyong my limits!"

"So..." Zero hissed out. "You still had this much power left?" He wondered out loud. He turned away from the fight as he glanced on the ground. "I'm still just so weak... It seems I still haven't learned my lesson."

"Lesson?" Hero said raising an eyebrow.

"In this world. The only thing the truly matters is power." Zero said reaching down and picking something up.

"That's not true." Hero said shaking his head.

"You only say that because you already have power boy... You don't even realize the gift you have inside of you. The power you get from being a Seraphin. Most of my clan would kill for a chance to have that kind of power."

"Well, your clan sounds quite foolish." Hero said casually. He turned to look at Zero and instantly froze.

Zero let a slight smirk come onto his face as he shrugged. "I suppose it is..."

And with that, he drove the orange crystal he had picked up straight into his heart...